On his plane from Madrid to Manchester, Casemiro wouldn’t have liked what he saw of Manchester United in their first two league games this season, especially in the middle of the pitch. If anything, he would have understood the magnitude of the job on his hands when he takes to the pitch in a red shirt.
For years, United have been craving for a proper No.6 in the centre of their midfield. Not since the days of Michael Carrick have United had a decent No.6. God knows how they have managed to pull it off, but they have landed arguably the best player in the world in that position.
He did not come cheap though. Manchester United had to fork out upwards of £60 million in transfer fees, which could go as high as £70 million including add-ons. Add to that his wages, which are reported at £350,000 per week, which puts him third on the list of the highest-paid United players behind Ronaldo and De Gea. He signed a four-year deal with an option for an extra year, which further inflates the deal to £150 million.
These are enormous numbers for a player who has just entered his thirties and his best footballing years largely behind him.
How will Casemiro improve United?
United have lacked quality in midfield over the years and Casemiro will certainly provide that. There have been two main traits that United midfielders have lacked in recent seasons. Firstly, a player with good game awareness who can shield the back four. Secondly, a player who has the technical ability to negate the opposition press and drive with the ball forward.
United conceded 57 goals last season in the Premier League, comfortably their worst ever season from a defensive point of view. This has largely been down to the midfielder’s inability to read the game and thwart opposition attacks. Casemiro will vastly improve United in this area as he ranks among the top five midfielders in the world in terms of tacles, interceptions and recoveries.
At Real Madrid, Casemiro slotted in between the central defenders when Madrid were off the ball and was very good at stopping opposition counter-attacks. He wins 3.42 duels per game on average and makes a healthy 1.83 tackles per 90 minutes. He does not shy away from making the odd tactical foul and if anything, the referees in the Premier League will be far more lenient towards him compared to his time in Spain.
He is good in the air too, winning 69% of his aerial duels last season and is certainly an upgrade on Fred in that aspect. Casemiro was able to rake up those numbers in a Madrid team who had 68% of the ball last season, and those stats will only increase when he is playing for a side like United who do not control possession.
But one feature that Ten Haag wants from his deep-lying midfielder is the amount of “progressive carries”. Casemiro has made just over 3 progressive carries in his last three years at Real Madrid, which puts him in the 35th percentile. United’s main target this summer, Frenkie de Jong, meanwhile, sits in the 94th percentile in this aspect. In Spain, Casemiro had Kroos and Modric to pass to after recovering the ball, which masked this inability, but at United he won’t have the same level of players around him.
How will United look like with Casemiro?
Casemiro played alongside Modric and Kroos in a 4-3-3 virtually all his time at Real Madrid. If Ten Haag does go with that formation, then Casemiro will probably be lining up alongside Bruno Fernandes and Christian Eriksen. The Brazilian will be most at home with this position as the deep-lying midfielder.
In the past, United have had to play both Fred and McTominay to cover their defensive frailties, but with a player like Casemiro in midfield, Ten Haag can afford to play both Eriksen and Fernandes.
The new United boss has stuck to the 4-2-3-1 formation in his first three games. Once again, this comes down to a lack of defensive cover. With Casemiro, Eriksen is the likely candidate who will accompany him in the double pivot, while Fernandes will be in his favoured No.10 role.
But playing Eriksen that deep had its disadvantages as United found against Brentford when he gave the ball way for the 2nd goal. A sensible option would be to pair the 30-year-old with fellow Brazilian Fred, a partnership which has served the Brazilian national team well. Fred has already shown that he plays well when fielded higher up the pitch under Ralf Rangnick.
Is this a panic buy from Unied?
From the outside, it certainly looks like it. United touted Frenkie de Jong for the entirety of the transfer window but weren’t able to land the Dutch midfielder. They had no intentions of bringing Casemiro to Old Trafford until the player made himself available in the market.
The move also resembles the transfer of Bastian Schweinsteiger, who also joined the club at 30-years old and went on to make just 45 appearances over two seasons. United fans will hope this move wouldn’t turn out in a similar fashion. Casemiro will certainly improve United, but by how much is the question.
